"I didn't think it was possible to be this bored."

Officer Emma Swan looked over at her partner, David Nolan, as he slid further into the driver's seat of the patrol car and chuckled.

"We've only been on shift for two hours, David."

"And it feels like ten."

With a sigh, Emma reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet, handing a few bucks to him.

"Why don't you go get us some coffee." She suggested. "My treat."

"Only if I can also get a donut."

"You are such a cliché."

With the excitement of a child on Christmas, David snatched the money from between Emma's fingers and got out of the car. As soon as he disappeared into the corner store, Emma decided to get out of the patrol car and stretch her legs for a bit. As she leaned against the cruiser, Emma looked up at the skyscrapers surrounding her and sighed. Boston had been her home for the past twenty-eight years, and she loved it, but she also found the incessant noise and hustle and bustle of the city suffocating.

"Help! He stole my purse!"

The sound of a woman yelling snapped Emma out of her thoughts just as someone blew past her, pushing several pedestrians out of his way. Without missing a beat, Emma took off after the hooded individual.

"Boston Police!" She yelled. "Stop!"

After a running for a block, the man threw the purse behind him but continued to run, Emma let out a frustrated grunt and kicked it into high gear, quickly beginning to close the gap between them. As she ran, she yelled into the radio clipped to her uniform.

"This is Officer Swan, badge number 5538. Theft in progress. I am in pursuit, going East on Washington."

As soon as she let go of the radio, the dispatcher responded, letting her know that back up was on the way. Emma continued to run after the man, following him down a side alley. At the end of the alley, they came to a high fence, and Emma could have cried out in relief when the man came to a stop and attempted to climb it. By the time she got to him, he was already halfway up. Forcefully, Emma reached up and grabbed him by the leg, pulling him down.

The man let out a short yell of surprise as he fell to the ground, landing on his side with a heavy thud and a sickening crack.

"Fuck!" He hissed. "You just broke my arm, bitch!"

Heaving a heavy breath, Emma reached down and rolled the man over onto his stomach before pulling his arms behind his back and handcuffing his wrists. At the movement of his arm, the man released yet another pained groan.

As Emma closed the handcuffs around the man's wrist, David pulled the cruiser into the alley, sirens blaring.

"You okay, Swan?" David called as he jumped out of the car and ran over to them.

"Yeah, I'm fi- "

Emma was cut off by the man headbutting her as she pulled him up from the ground. Blood gushed from her nose with a nauseating crunch.

"Son of a bitch." David growled, ripping the handcuffed man from Emma's grasp and hauling him to the car.

Without so much as a flinch, Emma reached up and realigned her own nose before removing a bandana from one of her pockets and using it to stop the bleeding.

"You didn't actually just do that, did you?" David gaped. "Jesus Christ, Swan."

"It's nothing, David." She sighed, walking to the car nonchalantly. "Now let's get this asshole to jail."

Regina Mills was fuming. As soon as her newest case had come across her desk and she read the file, she felt her blood pressure rise. Some hotshot cop had arrested a man on petty theft, only to have his fingerprints come back to match those found at the scenes of seven home invasions. In any other scenario, Regina would have been able to take this case directly to court and get the maximum sentence, but not anymore. Since the perpetrator's arm had been broken during the pursuit, which legally shouldn't have even happened, his lawyers were claiming police brutality. Most prosecutors would have dropped the case in order to save the skin of the department, but not Regina. Yes, this case was now going to be a major headache, but she refused to give in.

Seething, Regina grabbed her desk phone and dialed her assistant.

"Sidney." She barked. "Please call Captain Spencer and let him know that I require the presence of Officer Emma Swan in my office within the hour."

She didn't wait for a response before slamming the phone back down on the receiver.

If there was one thing Emma hated about her job, it was pleasing the District Attorneys. If she could just go about her day and do what she needed to do to get the job done, her life would be a hundred times easier. Alas, she had to play the game of handing the Boston District Attorney's office cases that they could either plead out or win easily.

It had been two days since Emma had arrested Jefferson Stone, who was not only responsible for her broken nose and the two wicked black eyes that were currently hidden under her aviator sunglasses, but had also committed several home invasions. Normally, closing a case like that would have been the foundation for Emma's eventual promotion to Detective, but some hard-ass Assistant District Attorney had ruined it by insisting that Emma had blown the case. So, there Emma was, making her way down the hallway to the office of Regina Mills, who had earned the reputation of The Evil Queen in both the Boston Police Department and among her own colleagues.

As Emma came to Regina's office door, she puffed out her chest and lifted her chin, knocking firmly.

"Come in."

Without hesitation, Emma let herself into the office, and was immediately met with a stone-cold glare boring into her. Emma refused to cower under the attorney's steady gaze and cleared her throat as she took in the sight of Regina's furious, espresso colored eyes, perfectly coifed, raven hair, and crisp, flawless pantsuit.

"Miss Swan." Regina acknowledged as she snapped the book she was holding shut and placed it back on the ridiculously full bookshelf next to her. "Have a seat."

"It's Officer Swan." Emma corrected as she sat down in the uncomfortable chair that was placed in front of Regina's desk. "So, what can I do for you, Counselor?"

With a bitter scoff, Regina shook her head and strode to her desk, grabbing a file off of the top of a stack of identical manila folders. Emma watched for nearly two minutes in silence as the brunette read over whatever paperwork was in the folder.

"Are you going to keep those gaudy sunglasses on the entire time, Miss Swan? Or will you afford me the simple respect of eye contact?" Regina inquired, not taking her eyes off of the file.

Sighing, Emma reluctantly removed her sunglasses and tucked them away in the breast pocket of her uniform. Regina finally looked up, and her scowl softened for the shortest of seconds before she recovered it.

"Did that happen during your encounter with Mister Stone?"

"It did." Emma confirmed. "Nothing to worry about."

"Why wasn't it written in the report?"

"Like I said- "

"I do not care if you deem it something to "worry about" or not, Miss Swan- "

"Officer Swan."

Regina clenched her jaw and pinned Emma with a glare that could kill a thousand men.

"Are you finished?" The brunette inquired coldly.

Narrowing her eyes challengingly, Emma leaned forward, so her elbows rested on her knees.

"As long as you afford me the simple respect of using the correct title."

"Are you always this self-indulgent?" Regina snipped.

"Are you always this uptight?"

Irately, Regina threw the file back down onto her desk and moved to stand behind it, placing her palms on the mahogany surface.

"Do you understand exactly what you have done?" She all but yelled. "Because of your reckless, unprofessional behavior, Jefferson Stone could walk. His lawyers are claiming that you used an unnecessary amount of force."

"All I did was pull him off of the fence that he was attempting to climb!" Emma argued, standing up from her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. "He just so happened to land on his arm."

"And then you handcuffed him despite the fact that you knew he had a broken arm!"

"Last time I checked; I wasn't a doctor."

"Clearly." Regina snorted.

Emma set her jaw and lifted her chin, pushing down the urge to give this woman a piece of her mind.

"Look, Counselor." Emma said calmly, clearly catching Regina off guard. "As much as I hate to say anything positive about you right now, I know that you're good at your job, and whether you believe it or not, I'm good at mine. I followed protocol in order to keep both myself and my partner safe, and I still ended up with a broken nose. I did nothing wrong."

"Your actions jeopardized- "

"My actions got a criminal off the streets." Emma interrupted. "A criminal who, by the looks of it, was showing distinct signs of crime escalation. I did my job. Now you do yours."

Regina stared at the blonde, completely speechless. Realizing that she had effectively won this battle, Emma took one of her business cards out of the breast pocket of her uniform, along with her sunglasses. As she placed her sunglasses back over her eyes, Emma set her card down on Regina's desk.

"If you have any other business that doesn't involve berating me, there's my number."

With a curt nod, Emma turned on her heel and exited the office. Regina expected the door to slam with so much force that the wall rattled, but it never did. Emma had closed the door with such gentleness that Regina hardly heard the click of the door locking into place.

For the first time in the six years that she had been dealing with cocky, over-zealous police, Regina was left completely shocked.

"She said what?"

"I'm telling you, Mary Margaret." Emma breathed. "This woman is absolutely insufferable. No wonder everyone hates her."

Mary Margaret shook her head and turned around to the refrigerator. She grabbed two beers, opened them, and slid one across the counter to her roommate and best friend. Emma took the beer gratefully and took a long swig.

"Maybe she's not all that bad." Mary Margaret proposed, earning a scoff from Emma.

"She called me Miss Swan."

"Well, that's technically not incorrect."

"I haven't been Miss Swan since college, and I don't intend on ever going back."

"I think you should ask her to go out for coffee. You know, build a bridge and all that."

Emma snorted out a laugh and shook her head as she took another long swig of her beer.

"Trust me, Regina Mills is the absolute last person I would ever want to get coffee with."

As soon as Regina closed the front door of her apartment, a heavy weight slammed into her legs. If she hadn't been expecting it, the blow would have sent her to the ground.

"Mama!"

Regina smiled brightly and looked down at her son, who was holding on tightly to her left leg. As smoothly as she could manage without losing her balance, Regina placed her purse and her briefcase by the door before prying the four-year-old from her legs and lifting him into her arms.

"Hello, my sweet prince." She greeted, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"Henry, darling! Dinner is ready!"

Regina followed the sound of her sister's voice into the kitchen as she held Henry tightly to her hip. As she came into the kitchen, Zelena looked up at her with a confused expression.

"I thought you weren't going to be home until later?" Zelena inquired.

Regina released a slow sigh and shook her head before placing Henry into his booster chair at the dining room table and dropping another kiss to the top of his head.

"I decided that I deserved a nice dinner with my family."

Zelena and Regina's eyes met over the kitchen counter, and Regina forced a small smile.

"Mama, sit with me!" Henry insisted.

"Listen to your son." Zelena chuckled. "I'll bring you your plate."

Eternally grateful for the presence of her sister, Regina took a seat next to Henry, and was immediately pulled into the story of his day. She listened intently as he babbled on and on about nothing in particular. If Regina was being honest, she had no idea what he was actually talking about, but the bright smile on his face was all that mattered to her.

"Officer Swan, can you please explain the nature of your encounter with Mister Stone?"

Regina peered across the court room to the witness stand, where Emma sat in uniform, stick-straight with her hands folded in her lap.

"My partner, Officer David Nolan, and I were on patrol downtown. While Officer Nolan was in a corner store purchasing coffee, I witnessed the defendant, Jefferson Stone, steal a purse and run East. I engaged pursuit, at the end of which, I arrested Mister Stone."

"And during your pursuit, did Mister Stone drop the purse that he had stolen?"

"He did." Emma nodded. "I continued to run after him due to the nature of his crime. Most people willing to commit a crime in broad daylight, in the presence of law enforcement, have the potential to escalate into violent crimes."

"Objection, your honor!" Jefferson's attorney, Robert Gold, yelled, standing up from his seat and bracing himself on his cane. "Miss Swan isn't a psychologist. She has no way of knowing whether or not my client has the capacity for violence."

"First of all, it's Officer Swan." Emma correctly calmly. "And second, I have a master's degree in Forensic Psychology from NYU on top of my four years of law enforcement experience. I technically am qualified to judge the nature of this crime."

Regina stared at Emma for a moment, completely taken aback by both the officer's eloquence, and her apparent intelligence. The vast majority of the Boston police officers that Regina had dealt with were brutish, barely evolved Neanderthals who could do little more than form a coherent sentence.

"Objection overruled." The judge announced. "You may continue, with your line of questioning, Miss Mills."

Gold sighed and sat back down in his chair, while Emma redirected her attention to Regina, awaiting the next question. When she noticed the intensity in which Regina was watching her, she cocked a quizzical eyebrow. Regina shook herself from her thoughts and cleared her throat quietly.

"One last question, Officer Swan." Regina began, noticing the way Emma's lips twitched up into a small smile at the proper use of her professional title. "At the time of your apprehension of Mister Stone, how did he sustain a broken arm?"

"Mister Stone attempted to scale a tall fence in order to evade arrest. He made it about halfway up before I was able to pull him down. He fell to the ground and landed on his arm."

Regina glanced to the jury, who were all listening intently to Emma perfectly articulate her case. A triumphant smirk spread across her lips as she took a seat behind the prosecutor's table.

"No further questions, your honor."

For the rest of the trial, Regina listened to Gold tear into Emma, questioning her integrity, her reputation as an officer, and even her intelligence. Throughout the entire line of questioning, Emma maintained a calm composure, despite the fact that Regina could see a fire burning behind her jade green eyes. For nearly an hour, Gold did everything he could to paint Emma as an impulsive, over-zealous cop who with a tendency to use excessive force, but to no avail. Regina wasn't sure she had ever seen someone with so much mindful composure. By the time the trial was over, Regina could say that she was thoroughly impressed with the blonde police officer.

"Officer Swan." Regina called, quickly approaching the elevator in the courthouse.

Emma looked up from her phone at the sound of her name and pressed the hold button, keeping the elevator doors open. Gracefully, Regina breezed into the elevator and reached out to press the button for the first floor, only to find that Emma had already pressed it.

"Thank you." Regina exhaled, running a hand through her hair.

Emma chose not to pay attention to the heavenly scent of lavender shampoo the floated toward her.

"No problem, Counselor." Emma muttered, looking back down at her phone.

"You were brilliant up there." Regina praised, her sincerity catching Emma off guard. "That jury was hanging on to every word you said."

With a small smile, Emma slid her phone into the inner pocket of her jacket and gave Regina her full attention. The bruising under Emma's eyes had mostly gone away, but Regina could see that most of what was still lingering had been poorly covered up with concealer.

"You weren't too bad yourself, Miss Mills."

Dutifully, Regina offered Emma her hand. Emma looked at it for a couple moments before taking it in her own and shaking it.

"Regina Mills." Regina smiled. "I don't think I gave you the chance to properly introduce yourself the first time we met."

"Emma Swan. It's nice to properly meet you."

"Likewise."